Whitepapers

RF SiP and MCMs integrate CMOS integrated circuits (ICs) for digital circuits and GaAs or SiGe devices for RF and microwave circuits with soft-board laminates and LTCC packages. Software used to design these complex circuits must seamlessly bring together synthesis, simulation, and verification solutions via a single interface ensure optimum component design and placement in each technology.

This application note gives a short summary on the Allan variance as a measure of frequency stability and an example on how to calculate it, with measurement results from R&S spectrum analyzers. A software program to sample data from R&S spectrum analyzers and calculate the Allan variance is available.

As technology has advanced, tools have been developed that go beyond merely analyzing devices to tools that design devices. These tools allow the user to select basic structures with variable dimensions, size constraints, and performance goals and then iterate automatically until the best possible design is found. The user is freed from the burden of monitoring the progress of each individual simulation and can devote time to other tasks. This evolutionary step in simulation software is improving the productivity of engineers developing next generation devices in a variety of fields.

This application note describes the R&S ZVA_110 converters, which extend the frequency range of the R&S ZVA family of vector network analyzers to cover the millimeter-wave range. They cover the W band (75 to 110 GHz). Several measurement examples are included in this paper, explaining in detail how to configure a converter-based VNA system.

In building a strategy for effective integrated-circuit design, it is important to understand the characteristics of different RF and microwave printed beam forming networks (BFN). Optimization of the design process for BFN can reduce unnecessary costs and design iterations, thus allowing designers time to improve the quality of the product. The design process includes various stages from analysis of requirements to final design documentation, balancing and trading off factors such as electrical performance, size, cost, etc.

At one time, linear systems and components were designed using a patchwork of instrumentation and measurements. This approach was quickly replaced by scattering parameters (S-parameters), which unified the multiple instruments and measurements and enabled just one instrument, the network analyzer, to make measurements like gain, isolation and match with a single connection. For more than 40 years, S-parameters have stood as one of the most important of all the foundations of microwave theory and techniques. They are related to familiar measurements such as S11 input match, S22 output match, S21 gain/loss, and S12 isolation, and can be easily imported into electronic simulation tools. Today, S-parameters are commonly used to analyze and model the linear behavior of RF and microwave components. Unfortunately, current industry trends toward increasing energy efficiency, higher output power and longer battery life are forcing many linear devices to operate in a nonlinear fashion. Measuring this behavior requires a solution that is much more deterministic in nature.

Starling’s patented CoMPA™ (Coherent Multi Panel Antenna) technology is based on coherently splitting (or combining) a flat-panel, large antenna array into multiple plates. This mechanical splitting enables achievement of a very low-profile, high-gain antenna, with equivalent performance to that of much higher profile antenna. Starling antennas are Kuband-based and provide both receipt and transmission of heavy data files, voice, and video.